"Have a New Kid by Friday: How to Change Your Child's Attitude, Behavior and Character in 5 Days" by Dr. Kevin Leman

In the past I have had a difficult time with parenting and/or self-help books. The jargon and language drives me crazy! When I worked at Franklin Covey while I was in college we were asked not to work on homework when we had extra time but to instead read time management and self-help books. In general I have always tuned out while reading these types of books but as I have matured a little I have realized that there are some areas that I need help.

About six years ago when my daughter was just a toddler a friend of mine recommended reading Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours by Dr. Kevin Leman. I found it to be a helpful resource for me that helped me know what to do when she started a tantrum - and to this day she is not one to throw a tantrum.

Recently I have been feeling a need to search out some ideas to help out with my four-year-old son because like most young boys, he can be a handful and he is sometimes aggressive (especially towards his sister). I decided to go back to the same parenting author I had read before and I was VERY happy that I did.

Dr. Leman begins the book with about five chapters that deal generally with his approach to parenting - a style that is neither permissive nor authoritarian; a style he prefers to call authoritative. He discusses some common reasons kids act out and how to react. The wonderful thing (or difficult thing) about his approach to parenting is that you as the parent must change your outlook and your actions. After all, being a parent is a real job!

The next section is golden - 100 common topics that parents often ask him for help with (I.E. whining, money, manners, bullying, disrespect, interrupting, etc) and discusses each one a little and provides a dialogue to help with the issue at hand. This section is very nicely alphabetized for easy reference. Now I have to admit that there were about three or four situations he discussed that I would handle slighlty different from his approach but so far I have seen some positive changes in my home - I hear the words "please" and "thank you" more often, my children have been working difficulties out together, and my son is saying "I hate you" less often.

I recommend this to all parents/future parents as a MUST-HAVE parenting resource!